[ad_1]
The farewell to Edwin David Peña Gil should have been surrounded by his close Choco family, his fellow students and professions in Cali, his students and his wife, Paola.
A chirimía from Rancho Aparte or Saboreo must have accompanied him, in the style of the people of his Pacific. That Abre Three days ’sauce, by Alex Abreu, started to sound, the one that says:
“Only three days ago / I received a note / that broke my heart / And I ask you for my good / reconsider and do another, another … / Your love is like a ‘boumerang’ / that leaves and returns.”
But no. The car with its coffin left the clinic alone where it endured a week the attack of that ghost called coronavirus, and his ashes went straight to a graveyard in Cali.
Paola Pérez, the palmirana with whom she fell in love one afternoon at the 2010 Petronio Álvarez Pacific Music Festival, could not go to see him off. He was left with the image of a spiritual being who did not deny his services to others, a happy man. She says today that her death could have been avoided if life had prevailed.
This lawyer and teacher was born in the home of Mariela Gil, a justice officer from Itsmina (Chocó); and of the graduate in social sciences Manuel Antonio Peña, already deceased. He was one of eight brothers.
At 18 years old came to Cali to follow the same career as his father. He graduated and specialized in the environment. He went on to teach in archdiocesan schools. Every time he went out on the street, the “What happened, teacher?” of some student.
Only in his heart, Edwin did not abandon the dream of being a lawyer, and the first person who supported him was his mother, that eternal love. And he achieve it. Specializations in administrative and constitutional law followed.
On August 18, 2012, In a Petronius, he met Paola Pérez, a therapist linked to a health company. Six days later they were dating and they never separated again. “Edwin helped me raise my son Sebastian, who was 12 years old, and who now dreams of being a lawyer, like him,” she says.
At that time, the lawyer Peña entered into a contract to provide legal services to the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF) Valle, then directed by his countryman Jhon Arley Murillo, today a representative to the House. Discipline and knowledge, through a merit competition, allowed him to become an advocate for the Family about four years ago.
He was proud of that task. But On March 12, life changed. He felt respiratory discomfort and commented at home that he was in the same place with someone with the flu who had shared an event with people from Spain and the United States in a hotel. A Colombian family from Chile also attended, one of whose members showed similar symptoms.
The contagion
He was in love with life, his traveling companion and the cultural wealth of his region.
Peña continued to attend the office, where there were no warning messages or protective elements, says his wife. On Sunday the 15th he said that he would not go to work because was feeling bad. “Could it be that I have the coronavirus,” he commented, and she told him not to talk about it “because words have power.”
On Wednesday, March 18, they called the covid-19 line. They gave them some recommendations. On Saturday, March 20, they communicated again and after a few questions they were told that they were handling the situation well.
On Monday the 23rd, Edwin claimed that he couldn’t take it anymore and they took him to the clinic. “The attention was immediate and the test was positive for the virus. They admitted him to Intensive Care. I only have gratitude towards the health personnel ”, says Paola, who collapses when she affirms:” I am sure that he was infected by working “.
The medical report indicates that the patient continued to aggravate. On Monday, March 30, with 10 minutes to go until 2:00 in the afternoon, the patient could not take it anymore and died. While in Itsmina (Chocó) the family prayed, Heiler, Edwin’s brother, was always close and was the only one who could accompany him to the funeral.
The family and colleagues at ICBF are still awaiting an investigation to determine how Edwin was infected.
Paola claims that a master’s degree in human rights was pending, because the study was in his philosophy of life. From him she learned to love the culture of the Pacific, music and gastronomy. Also, you can’t give up on dreams.
Music set the joyous rhythm of this man’s life.
She will not forget her dancer in the San Pacho de Quibdó or in the Virgen de las Mercedes de Istmina, the one who smiled and sang: “This is the story of the duende / Crazy and funny duende / Who flew with the devil / Para bathing in a river ”.
Or that sauce of: “I have been dying for three days / Dying of love / And what can I do? / If my life is gone / My hope is gone / I am still suffering for that woman.”
To her, he was a man who enjoyed life from start to finish. That he left soon, but who will one day be given a funeral worthy of a great son, brother, uncle, cousin and companion who taught how love is true.
JOSÉ LUIS VALENCIA
DRAFTING TIME
CALI
